The Quiet American

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The Quiet American
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Genre

• War Novel
• All war novels are ultimately anti-war novels.
• What about movies?

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Who is Graham Greene?

• British Author/Correspondent from the
  Professional British Middle Class- a class in
  Britain that was especially sensitive to the
  erosion of British influence throughout the
  world.
• Writes The Quiet American in 1955.

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More on Graham Greene

• Humanist-Catholic
• Humanism is a body of philosophies and ethical
  perspectives that emphasize the value of human
  beings, individually and collectively, and
  generally place more importance on rational
  thought than on strict faith or adherence to
  principle.
• George Orwell Graham Green is our first
  Catholic Fellow Traveler.

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Characters in The Quiet American

• Main Characters
• Thomas Fowler is a British journalist in his
  fifties who has been covering the French war in
  Vietnam for over two years. He has become a very
  jaded and cynical man. He meets Alden Pyle and
  finds him naïve. Is Fowler a reliable narrator?
• Alden Pyle is the "quiet American" of the title.
  He has studied theories of government and
  society, and is particularly devoted to a scholar
  named York Harding. Harding's theory is that
  neither Communism nor colonialism is the answer
  in foreign lands like Vietnam, but rather a
  "Third Force." U.S. military counter-insurgency
  expert Edward Lansdale, who was stationed in
  Vietnam 1953-1957, is sometimes incorrectly cited
  as a model for Pyle's character.
• Phuong, Her character is never fully developed or
  revealed. She is never able to show her emotions,
  as her older sister makes decisions for her. She
  is named after, but not based on, a Vietnamese
  friend of Greene's.
• Vigot, a French inspector at the Sûreté,
  investigates Pyle's death. He is a man torn
  between doing his duty (pursuing Pyle's death and
  questioning Fowler) and doing what is best for
  the country (letting the matter go). He and
  Fowler are oddly akin in some ways, both faintly
  cynical and weary of the world hence their
  discussion of Blaise Pascal. But they are divided
  by the differences in their faith Vigot is a
  Roman Catholic and Fowler an atheist.

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Characters in The Quiet American

• Secondary Characters
• Granger - Stephen Crane could describe a war
  without seeing one. Why shouldnt I? Its only a
  damned colonial war anyway. Get me another
  drink.
• Joe (The Economic Attaché) - I was three years
  in Paris. My accents good enough for one of
  these darned Vietnamese.
• Miss Hei (Phuongs sister) she would like to
  work for the Americans speaks for her sister
  She is delicate. She needs care. She deserves
  care. She is very, very loyal.

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French Indochina

• Vietnam had been a French colony, known as French
  Indochina, since 1861.
• Japan conquers Vietnam in 1940.
• Ho Chi Mihn forms the Vietmihn to fight the
  Japanese- US sends aid to the Vietmihn.
• With the help of the US, French return to Vietnam
  after WWII- Vietmihn declare war on the French in
  1946.

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French Indochina

• 1947 France agrees to limited independence for
  Vietnam under Emperor Bao Dai, who is living in
  Hong Kong.
• Ho Chi Mihn does not see Bao Dais government as
  legitimate. Ho Chi Mihn and the Vietmihn fight a
  guerilla war against the French and Bao Dai.

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French Indochina

• 1950 Soviets and Chinese recognize the
  Democratic Republic of Vietnam under Ho Chi Mihn
• US recognizes Bao Dais government and send 10
  million in aid to France. US sends an additional
  500 million in 1951- the first US economic
  missions are established in Saigon.
• By 1954, US is paying 80 of the cost of Frances
  war in Vietnam.
• By 1955, In 1955, Ngo Dihn Diem called for a
  referendum to remove Bao Dai and establish a
  republic with Diem as president. The referendum
  was widely regarded as fraudulent, showing some
  98 in favor of a republic. Bao Dai abdicated
  once again and remained in exile in France until
  his death